Hiding in Plain Sight
by AnimeFan202
Summary: She'd always thought she just had a knack for weaponry. But Tenten soon learns that there's more to her than anyone thought. This discovery will lead her to a mysterious weapon, a not-so-underground war, and an odd band of rogues. And before she knows it, she'll be forced to make an impossible choice. Sometimes, ignorance really is bliss. AU. Rated for blood, swearing, etc.
1. Prologue

**Lucky for you, unfortunately for me, the only thing I have less of than motivation is willpower. AKA, I didn't mean to put this up until I had significantly more of it written out. As it is, I have the first three chapters completely written, but I'm going to try to pace myself so I don't put them out all in a rush only to leave you hanging while I try to finish the next one. **

**On that happy note, please take note that this is an AU. I have taken it upon myself to mess with everything you've known to be true. (:**

**That said, please enjoy my extremely short, extremely vague prologue!**

**Prologue**

_Long ago, warriors roamed the land. These warriors were a select few, for they possessed a special ability not found in the common public. The ability to wield a rare weapon…_

_As the ancient territories fleshed out into the towns and villages known to the world today, these warriors became their peoples' protectors, defending them when the need arose. _

_But it wasn't long before civilians learned to use the inner energy known as 'chakra' that lay within them. The art of 'jutsu' was soon created and then altered in more ways than thought possible. _

_The old warriors became a thing of fables and legends, fading into the shadows or being hunted to extinction. Or so they thought… _

So reads an excerpt from _The Legend of the Keyblade Masters_.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts.**

**Okay, so because this was so short, chapter one, where the story actually starts, will probably be up in a relatively short amount of time. But… I will be spending the next two days at my aunt's house where I'll have very limited access to the internet, so I'm guaranteed to have to wait that long at least. Thank you for reading!**


	2. Something Different

**So this last week of summer has already ruined my reputation of having absolutely no social life. I can hardly comprehend all the plans I have for this week. **

**Nevertheless, here is chapter one, where we actually get into the story!**

**Chapter One: Something Different**

"This was totally unnecessary."

"I realize it may actually kill you to say thank you, but could you at least stop complaining? You just got out of the hospital, Neji. I wanted to make sure you at least got home."

"The doctors cleared me; I'm fine, Tenten. But… thank you." She resisted a smirk. The words _did_ sound like they were being painfully torn out of his throat, syllable by syllable.

"Don't mention it." He didn't try to mask his groan.

The two stood at the entrance to the Hyuga compound, about to part ways. Their recent mission hadn't been as tough as the injuries may suggest. But even the most skilled shinobi could fall victim to lapses in judgment. She couldn't deny that they'd been lucky, though. Neji's worst injuries had been from chakra depletion rather than physical wounds. Now he just needed to rest.

"Just promise me you'll take it easy today, alright? We've got enough trouble looking after Lee without you being reckless, too." She really did _try_ not to sound like a nagging mother hen. Tenten was well aware that the boys could take care of themselves, but still, she cared about them. And she wasn't too tough to admit it. Being a team mate _meant _something to her. So if there was an opportunity where it _was_ within her power to look out for them, she did.

If her concern annoyed him, he didn't let on. Instead, with a small smile, he replied, "I'll see what I can do. Will you be 'taking it easy' today?"

"Hey, _I'm_ in perfect health. I've got training to do; I'm working with something new."

"Well, Gai will be pleased. I'll see you tomorrow, Tenten."

"Yup! Bye, Neji."

Neither genin was _lazy_ per se… but they did tend to relax a little on the rare occasions their sensei gave them a day off. Only Lee could be counted on to be found at the training fields every single day, regardless of the team's schedule. But today Tenten was excited to start what was sure to be a grueling workout.

She always pushed herself. Each member of Gai's team was vastly different when it came to strengths, abilities, and fighting styles. It was hard to compare them on any sort of relative scale. So it wasn't that she was worried about keeping up so much as she purposely made it difficult to reach her own standards.

She hadn't been lying. She may not have been traveling too far out of her comfort zone, but she _was_ trying something new.

Tenten and her parents lived in a small cottage on the outskirts of the village. It was a relaxed, humble lifestyle, for the most part. Neither of her parents were shinobi, but her father had taken up martial arts as a hobby years before she'd been born. As a result, he had built a dojo out in the forest, just a little ways past their house.

Her team mates had only ever accompanied her home once, but Lee had been absolutely enthralled by her father's lifestyle. She could understand why. The type of martial arts her father practiced was closer to taijutsu than any of the other ninja arts, and it was rare to find the kind of devotion to hard work Gai preached about in a civilian.

"I'm back, Mom!" she called, sticking her head into the house.

"No mission today?"

"Nope. I'm going to go train, alright?"

Her mother shouted something back about her father having gone shopping in town, but she was already on her way, the house out of sight.

Tenten walked along the familiar paths, attune with the forest. The birds chirped overhead, either oblivious to her presence or apathetic. Either way, the noise actually added to the peaceful atmosphere around her.

The door to the dojo eased open without so much as a creak. She snapped the light on, heading for the storage room at the back. Her footsteps echoed in the large, empty room, and the air was a little cooler than it had been outside. Her father hadn't held any classes that day so the room hadn't been opened up to the sun.

The back room held various pieces of teaching equipment. Mostly things made of wood or plastic or foam. (Her dad's students were comprised mainly of civilian children playing at being ninja or adults who were being pestered by their doctors to find a new method of exercise. Typically, people who weren't expecting any real injuries to occur during the learning process. Playing indeed.) But behind all of these, Tenten stored some real weapons so she could train at home.

After digging around for a few minutes, she unearthed a wooden sword. She'd been hoping to practice with a real one, right off the bat, but she was impatient to start.

Tenten may have considered herself a weapons specialist with more experience than most at her level, but she had done very little sword work. She'd brought it up once or twice throughout her childhood, but her father had always brushed off these concerns, distracting her. She didn't really mind; she tended to prefer projectiles anyway. But the new challenge was exciting.

She rushed through a few warm-up exercises before taking the wooden sword with her to the center of the room. She'd done some research, looking up basic techniques and watching other swordsmen at work.

Tenten started with a few offensive attacks- thrusts and slashes that felt totally foreign. She lost her balance more than a few times, and it was hard to get used to a weapon she was expected to keep with her. Honestly, it was frustrating and made the sword seem more like a hindrance than something to protect herself with. But Tenten was stubborn, if nothing else. She was determined. She would find the patience within herself to wait out this period of graceless amateurism.

She was about an hour in, making little progress, when she first heard the giggling. Tenten stopped, glancing around her and breathing heavily. She sensed movement by the doorway, and her visitor didn't quite manage to duck out of sight in time.

"Who's there?" Tenten called.

Obediently, the head slipped back around the doorway, followed slowly by its body. They were trained as shinobi to recognize that danger came in all shapes and sizes, but Tenten just couldn't bring herself to be suspicious of the little girl standing before her.

She had long, straight, jet black hair that fell down to her thighs. Her clothes were fancy and expensive-looking, but they'd seen better days. Her top was dirt-smudged, and the bottom of her skirt was patterned with tears. She looked like a little rich girl who either couldn't take care of, or appreciate, what she had, but Tenten just couldn't bring herself to judge her badly. One look at her eyes and any cynical thoughts she may have had disappeared. Her eyes were large, dark, and unquestionably innocent.

Tenten had never been overly fond of children. She _liked _them well enough, but it wasn't like her heart melted at the sight of them or anything.

But there was something about true innocence that was just too pure for her to turn her back on.

"Are you one of my father's students?" she asked, trying to sound as non-threatening as possible.

The little girl shook her head shyly. "No. I was just watching…" She giggled again.

Tenten wasn't sure how to interpret her response. The girl seemed far too sweet to be mocking her, but her laughter seemed to suggest otherwise.

"You're overbalancing," she said suddenly. "For the type of attack you're going for, it's best if you keep your back foot planted. If you don't, you end up losing control, and it's harder to recover."

For a moment, Tenten could only stare. The idea of this strange little kid giving a full-fledged ninja any worthwhile advice was a little ridiculous. But her words made sense.

"Who… Who are you?"

"My name is Rhia." She took a few tentative steps into the room, her hands hidden behind her back.

"…Tenten. Do you spend a lot of time around swordsmen?" she asked curiously, still trying to figure this girl out.

"I'm in training, too." There was pride behind Rhia's blush. She watched as the younger girl pulled a sword out from behind her back. She was no expert when it came to this particular weapon, in case the past hour hadn't already proved _that_, but Tenten could tell that there was something odd about the sword Rhia held.

She couldn't imagine any weapon suiting anyone so perfectly. Despite Rhia's age or innocent appearance, the sight of her holding this particular sword just looked _right_ in ways the weapons specialist couldn't really put words to.

The sword was made of a very dark metal. It glinted strangely in the harsh, fluorescent lighting of the dojo. Though curved slightly, the sword itself didn't strike her as being particularly sinister. In fact, from where she stood, the blade looked a little dull. It was a long blade, but that didn't make the sword seem awkward for Rhia like it might in someone else's hands. In fact, Tenten strongly suspected that the sword's length was purposeful- to make up for its owner's short stature.

Rhia let Tenten admire her weapon a few seconds longer before pulling it back and clenching her other hand into a fist. She looked excited.

"Well? How do you feel about some company? Shall we spar?"

Tenten was torn. On the one hand, it hardly seemed fair for a ninja to be fighting a little girl. On the other, of the two of them, Rhia was the only one with a real weapon. And she looked so pumped…

"Okay," she agreed. It wouldn't hurt to humor her, she reasoned with herself. She would make sure Rhia didn't get hurt.

Tenten took up the stance she'd been attempting to get comfortable in for the past hour. Once there, she waited for the other girl to make the first move.

For all her advice of maintaining control, Rhia didn't seem to have a solid stance. She flitted around, never staying in any one spot for more than a few seconds. She made a few wild slashes at her opponent, but Tenten could tell they were all feints. She was waiting for Tenten to strike back.

Finally, whether out of curiosity or impatience, Tenten did bring her sword down to meet Rhia's… except the girl wasn't there. Each time Tenten attacked, the younger girl would jump out of the way just in time. The only thing Tenten's sword ever connected with was air. The smirk taking form on Rhia's face only added to her growing frustration.

Until at last, Rhia didn't jump away. Tenten didn't connect either, but the change of pace startled her enough to become twice as alert.

Rhia had ducked under her strike and gotten in close. Tenten's heart had begun to race. If she'd been thinking logically, she would have realized that her opponent was in a very uncomfortable position to attack. Rhia was _too _close, and her blade was too long. She would have to curve her arm up at an awkward angle to connect with the hope of doing any worthwhile damage.

But Tenten was a ninja, trained to act on adrenaline in times of peril. And the surprise didn't have her thinking logically.

She jerked her sword back from where it had flown over Rhia's shoulder, not knowing that this was exactly what the little girl had wanted.

Rhia caught their hilts together and jerked upwards. The toy sword flew out of Tenten's grasp where Rhia snatched it out of the air. Now holding both weapons, the little girl jumped back a few feet.

Tenten was tensed, preparing for another attack. Her mind was racing as fast as her heart. Faster. Had she misjudged the situation? If so, how drastically? Was Rhia some sort of rogue assassin, trained to kill? Or was she just slightly better than Tenten had anticipated? Was this still a game to Rhia? Or did she _mean _to be intimidating?

She was wildly cycling through her options. Playing it safe here meant she had to assume Rhia was hostile.

First things first, she needed a strategy. Taijutsu had never been a specialty of hers, but she had picked up a few things since being placed on Gai's team. And if it came to that, she felt confident she could overpower the smaller girl. But still, the fact that Rhia was armed and she was not didn't sit well with her. Tenten wasn't used to being without a weapon. Her muscles ached for the sword Rhia had stolen, even if it was just a toy.

Almost reflexively, she reached out for it. Tenten was unable to explain what happened next.

With a brief, bright flash, the sword disappeared from Rhia's hand and reappeared in Tenten's outstretched one. Except… it wasn't the same weapon anymore.

She was holding a sword made of a strange metal she couldn't identify. The way it glinted in the lighting made her think of Rhia's blade, though this sword wasn't nearly as dark. The hilt was a startling, conspicuous shade of yellow, made up of two bars that wrapped around the handle she held. The blade itself was silver. It was flat where it should have come to a point, but four tips grew out from the side. They jutted out like curved yet jagged teeth. Frankly, its design reminded her of a key.

In hindsight, it would seem like a very impractical weapon, but at the moment, she was too shocked by its sudden appearance to contemplate its uses in battle.

"How… What the hell… What _is_ this?"

Rhia's bright expression grew dim at Tenten's obvious confusion. Her face paled, and she took a few steps back. "I thought you knew…"

"Knew what?"

The younger girl looked afraid suddenly. "Never mind. I'm sorry, Tenten!"

She whirled around and ran out the door.

Tenten dropped the bizarre sword. By the time it hit the floor, it was a wooden toy once more.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts.**


	3. A Harmless Game

**It's only the second chapter, but things have already gotten a lot darker…**

**Chapter Two: A Harmless Game**

Tenten returned to the dojo the next three days in a row, but she didn't see Rhia again. Nor did the mysterious key-like sword appear again, even when she consciously tried to summon it.

As much as she knew she should move on, it was hard for her to let it go without having any solid answers. She had begun to spend all of her free time practicing her sword work. This newfound obsession seemed to worry her parents, but they didn't voice their concerns, so she ignored them.

Meanwhile, life around her continued on in its normal pattern. Neji made a full recovery, and the team was cleared to start taking missions again. But so far, Gai hadn't accepted any. Instead, he had his genin team training harder than ever.

Looking back, Tenten really should have seen this event coming. She sighed. 'Capture the flag.' The words made her cringe.

For all the other genin squads, the game was something they hadn't had to think about since their academy days. The same could not be said for Gai's team. At least, not recently.

A few months ago, Kakashi Hatake (their sensei's proclaimed rival) had taken on a team of his own. Now, this shouldn't have meant anything. No matter how good Kakashi's rookies were, Gai's team was still a full year ahead. Older, more experienced.

It had been complete coincidence when the two teams crossed paths returning from separate missions. It had been a little interesting to check out the only trio that Kakashi had ever passed, sure, but that passing interest should have been the end of it. But no… Nothing could ever be that simple when Gai was involved.

Within a week, the two teams were doing various 'training exercises' together, usually under the guise of a game, like this one. Tenten was a little disappointed. She'd hoped Team Seven's sensei would be a bit more logical in his approach to training than her own.

Only Lee was still excited when they got to the training ground. Tenten sighed for what had to be the dozenth time. Neji was quietly disgruntled beside her. Kakashi's trio was talented, she'd give them that, but annoying. The only bright side was that a successful outcome was almost a given. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura couldn't stop bickering to save their lives. And that could be a fatal flaw for a squad of shinobi. She'd hate to see how they handled a real mission.

The teachers greeted each other pleasantly. Kakashi valued this as a teamwork exercise. Gai just enjoyed having something to one-up his rival with.

"Those two…" Tenten rolled her eyes. "They're like parents using their children's talents and accomplishments to fluff up their own egos."

Lee was warming up, too far away to hear, but Neji chuckled softly at her analogy. "You're right. But perhaps this time won't be such a waste of time."

She followed his gaze across the lawn to the other group of genin. Predictably, they were already at each other's throats. But Neji was focused on one in particular. Dark, quiet, but admittedly handsome… (Not that she _would_ admit it.) Sasuke Uchiha.

He'd graduated top of this year's rookie class but had always been an enigma to her. She knew Neji and Lee were both hoping to finally come head to head with this boy. His skill was usually enough to make up for his team mates' lack thereof. That had been the problem. He contrasted with Naruto and Sakura _too_ much. Sasuke was good at slipping silently through the forest, which shouldn't have been a problem… except that the other two were constantly getting in the way. Distractions. There had been a few close calls, but Team Seven hadn't won yet.

The six genin slowly drew together as the senseis broke apart. A coin was flipped, territories determined. Kakashi's team was given the far side of the boundary line, deeper into the forest. Team Gai would be closer to the training field.

The teams were given their flags. Naruto snatched up the yellow one, Lee took the red. They were brightly colored on purpose. It was difficult to camouflage them in the forest. The idea wasn't necessarily for them to be hidden… just well guarded. It was a matter of navigating their surroundings and working around obstacles.

Neji, Tenten, and Lee staged their base as far from the boundary line as was allowed. At this spot stood a very peculiar tree. Its stump was short, only about three feet from the ground, and then it branched out away from the center. Four thick limbs pointed out in four different directions. They planted their flag in the middle.

"All right," Tenten said, "let's talk strategy."  
Lee nodded in agreement. Anyone could still see that he was psyched for the exercise to start, but his excitement had settled into focus. A few feet off, watching something closely, Neji already had his Byakugan activated.

"They're leaving behind two guards," he reported. "They've already taken formation."

"How do you want to respond?" Tenten asked. "It doesn't really matter to me."

Lee was quiet. This was where the two teams truly differed. Tenten, Neji, and Lee didn't always get along, but they were capable of putting aside any disputes when it came time to work together for the sake of a mission.

But Tenten had to hand it to Team Seven. If Neji was right, (and she didn't make a habit of doubting those eyes) it was impressive that they'd already managed to agree on a strategy. Maybe they were starting to mature.

"Let's unbalance them," Neji decided after a moment.

"Excellent!" said Lee. "So you and I shall go on ahead?"

"Works for me," Tenten approved. She didn't really mind being saddled with guard duty. This little exercise didn't mean quite so much to her as it did to the boys. For them, this was a chance to test their skills. For her, this was just a harmless game.

They only had another minute before the sound of a shrill whistle cut through the silence. The game had officially begun.

Neji and Lee took off, leaving Tenten to begin setting up traps around the area.

It wasn't long before the natural peace and quiet of the forest returned and Tenten relaxed. She leaned back against the tree, settling back into a barrage of now-familiar thoughts.

She just couldn't get that strange sword out of her head. She flexed the muscles in her dominant hand. How had she felt the first time she'd summoned it? More importantly, how could she do it again? Tenten was no amateur at summoning weapons. It was a task she performed on a regular basis. But all of those summons had used chakra. That other day in the dojo… It had felt so effortless… So _right_. But there was another point nagging the back of her mind. The little girl had looked so scared… Why?

A rustling in the trees above her brought Tenten back to the present. She quickly drew a kunai, ready for whatever was coming.

Much to her surprise, when the enemy emerged from its cover, she found… Naruto? A surge of irritation flowed through her. Team Seven's own personal goofball had managed to get past Lee and Neji? Had her team mates really been so focused on confronting Sasuke that they'd allowed the enemy offense to slip through?

She watched his movements closely, calculating. He hadn't stopped moving since entering her line of sight. So he hadn't made any obvious mistakes… yet. The goal was to get in, get the flag, get out. But did he really expect no opposition from her?

Tenten didn't move as the boy dropped to the ground… in the perfect spot to set off one of her traps. She smirked at his startled cry as he fell target to the small rockslide she'd strung up. When the dust cleared, she didn't see any sign of Naruto.

_Tough luck, _she thought. He wouldn't be too seriously injured, but still, you could count him out. It looked like it would be another win for Team Gai.

The sound of another trap being set off behind her made her whip around just in time to see a barrage of kunai raining down on… yes, _Naruto_. She watched as the younger genin disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Shadow clones… She should have seen that one coming.

No sooner had she made this realization than all hell broke loose. She brought an arm up, trying to shield her eyes from the dust as all her traps went off around her. Tenten grit her teeth, silently berating herself for having so little faith in her team mates. This kid was tricky. And it seemed like Team Seven was finally learning to play to their strengths.

Kunai were flying the second the dust began to clear. Each one found its mark, and each one disappeared in a puff of smoke. Shadow clones. All of them.

There was another rustling above her head, and she whipped around to see Naruto- the real one, she was sure of it- drop down through the opening in the tree. She was just seconds too late. He snatched the flag, and her kunai sailed over his head, close but not close enough. It only took another second for him to climb back out, and then the race was on.

Tenten tore after him through the trees, looking for an opening, but of course it couldn't be that easy. She shouldn't have expected Naruto of all people to keep to a straight path. One moment he was in her line of sight, perfectly in range. The next he was obscured by something in the forest.

She grit her teeth and pushed herself to go faster. She wasn't getting anywhere, and every second that passed brought him closer to the boundary line.

At last, she caught her first lucky break.

"Tenten!"

Lee. Neji must have seen Naruto coming and sent him as backup. Excellent. Naruto may be clever, but there was no way for him to slip away from both of them.

But just when things started to go right, it all went very, very wrong.

Tenten glanced down, looking to see where she could go to be of the most help to Lee. That's when she caught sight of the blood. Just drops at first, here and there. But the farther down she looked, the more there was, until the branches were slick with it. Bells went off in her head. This was no casualty of nature. It reeked of human involvement. And then she spotted the body.

She dropped so quickly it looked almost as if she plummeted straight to the ground.

"Tenten!" she heard Lee call out in alarm. She ignored him.

She'd reached the ground and, unable to find a spot not splattered with blood, she plowed right through it.

She knelt by the body, horrified at the sight but unable to turn away. Before she knew what she was doing, she had the head cradled in her lap.

The kill was fresh, but some time had already passed. The body was slowly losing its warmth, and the blood had started to dry- it didn't drip down like she expected it to when she tilted the head.

It was a gruesome sight. Tenten assumed the slash through the throat had been the deathblow, and she hoped it had been quick. Another horizontal cut had been delivered to the side of her head. Tenten did her best to ignore the blood and decimated brain matter still oozing from _that_ wound. Her chest and midsection had been opened with a single vertical slash, their contents having also been brutally ripped apart. Both eyes were slashed clean through.

This girl hadn't just been killed; she'd been utterly destroyed. But why be so merciless even after death? Tenten had paid enough attention to her studies to realize that something was wrong. Each post-mortem cut was deliberate but not clean enough to be part of an autopsy performed by a tracker nin. And even if that had been the case, why would the evidence still be here? Autopsies were carried out on-site, but the bodies were ultimately disposed of elsewhere. It didn't add up.

But Tenten pushed her mind away from this train of thought. She'd dropped down not because the victim's circumstances had looked suspicious but because the victim herself had looked familiar. Rhia…

She gasped in a lungful of oxygen involuntarily, unaware that she'd been holding her breath. She heard her name being called again, but she didn't answer.

A second later, Lee dropped down beside her, landing in the mess of blood that surrounded her. He recoiled when he took a closer look at the body. His face was stricken and pale, reflecting her own.

The rest unfolded like a dream. The two were soon joined by Neji and Team Seven, their flag still clutched in Naruto's grasp. One by one, they each stopped dead. No one seemed to know what to do or say, so no one did or said anything.

"Tenten," she heard Neji address her quietly. She ignored him. It was too much for her brain to comprehend. She didn't have room for both his voice and her memories. All she could think of was Rhia standing shyly in the doorway, Rhia quietly confident as she wielded her weapon, Rhia alive and so blatantly innocent.

Someone touched her arm, bringing her out of her quick downward spiral. But when she looked up, it wasn't either of her team mates like she'd been expecting. It was Sakura.

"There's nothing you can do for her now." The other girl looked serious, but surprisingly composed despite the horror that surrounded her. Tenten had never classified her as a hardened, emotionless shinobi. If anything, Sakura had always come off as _over_-emotional. Maybe she just compartmentalized better than Tenten gave her credit for.

She was in the process of nodding wordlessly when Gai and Kakashi arrived on the scene. And just like that, the air of helplessness and indecision was washed away. Sakura was right. There was nothing more to be done for Rhia. So she let her team mates help her up as the six genin were sent away. Training was over.

**Review please!**

**I own neither Naruto nor Kingdom Hearts.**

**Hmm… I've only created one OC for this story… (so far, though there aren't any more in the plans yet) and she's already dead. How uplifting. **


	4. Another Visitor

**It's been awhile, I know… My first semester of college kind of took over my life, but now I've got some time off, so hopefully, I can use this time to get some more work done on my stories .**

**When I'd originally started this, the focus was going to be solely on Tenten… But the more I planned it out, the broader the world got… And you get the first taste of that in this chapter with a… point of view switch almost. Enjoy!**

**Chapter Three: Another Visitor**

The walk out of the forest was silent. The six could have been any group of teens. For the time being, all their past relationships were put aside. It didn't matter if they were mortal enemies, lifelong rivals, or best friends. No jokes were made. No arguments were had. But there was a comradery of sorts in their silence. Tragedy had a way of binding people together like that.

Sasuke hung back a little as the group made its way back into the realm of open spaces and sunlight. He was watching the other five, trying to be as discreet as possible, gauging their reactions.

Naruto's expression was startlingly neutral for one usually so open with his emotions, but Sasuke rarely understood what his blond team mate was thinking, so he didn't linger long there. Sakura just looked weary. Perfectly understandable, but frankly, he was impressed that she hadn't gone to hysterics back there at the sight of the body. He shouldn't have been surprised to see the Hyuga boy watching him right back, but then, there was little that went over _that_ one's head. Lee was openly solemn and worried, glancing at his team mate repeatedly. Lee may have been a little too obsessive with his training, but he had his priorities straight, Sasuke could give him that. And then there was Tenten.

He had never given much thought to the weapons specialist. He supposed she was good, for her field. But as far as competition went, he'd just never taken her seriously. Her reaction had been the most unexpected. There was still blood all down her front from the head wound, and her clothes weren't the only thing that was a mess. Her expression was still stricken, haunted. The way she'd handled the body, despite the state it had been in, had been intimate, personal. Immediately, he suspected that she'd known the victim, but Tenten hadn't offered up any information, and no one was pushing.

Least of all Sasuke. He tried to be aware and alert, but his exhaustion was making this difficult. And he was beginning to worry it was affecting his judgment.

Under any other circumstances, any other day, there was no way he would've trusted Naruto to take point back there in the forest. But he just couldn't focus on such a stupid exercise, and he'd hoped hanging back would give him some much-needed rest. So _of course_ Neji and Lee had gone right by the blond, bypassing him for a real challenge.

The irony was particularly dark today. There wasn't a chance for his team to enjoy their victory.

They'd reached the main street. The six went their separate ways, and Sasuke began to trudge home. Normally, the fact that the Uchiha compound was on the edge of the village wasn't something that bothered him. Not like it bothered others, anyway. But on days like today, the outskirts of the village looked impossibly far away.

He sighed when he finally reached his home, shutting the door behind him and slipping out of his sandals.

"Back already?"

He jumped involuntarily. Sasuke had let down his guard once he'd entered his house. He hadn't heard his mother's footsteps. Now she stood before him, one eyebrow raised at his actions.

"How did the game go?" Mikoto asked, watching him carefully.

"We won." His words were dull, emotionless. There was a time when he would have corrected her, told her it was a training exercise, not a game. But these days he found he was a lot gentler with his mother. Mikoto was a strong woman, but the past few years had been hard on her.

She nodded, seeming to guess that there was something much darker on his mind. "I heard about the body you found in the forest. Your father and a few other officers were dispatched to check things out."

"Yeah…" Sasuke bit off the other thoughts on the tip of his tongue. He didn't bring up how much the girl's wounds had resembled the ones lining Shisui's body. He wouldn't bring his brother into the conversation. Not today.

He hadn't moved past the entrance hall. His mother remained on the step above him, but now she squatted down so they were at eye level. He didn't move as she propped up his chin with one of her hands, running her thumb gently over the bruise-like shadows under his eyes.

"You haven't been sleeping well. You should try to get some rest before dinner." She leaned in and kissed his cheek before straightening up and returning to what she'd been doing, leaving her son where he stood.

Sasuke didn't even try to resist. He made his way to his room, knowing the nightmares were inevitable.

**...**

She wasn't sure why, but the first place Tenten went was not to her house, where she might have obtained a change of clothes, but back to the dojo. Tenten knew her actions were coming across as more than a little zombie-like, but she just couldn't get her mind off of Rhia.

The horror of her death, the fear in her eyes the last time Tenten had seen her… She couldn't help feeling that the two images were connected. What had spawned that fear? Had Tenten somehow been responsible for Rhia's demise?

She made her way to the storage closet in the back, haunted by the thought. Tenten pulled the wooden toy sword out of its hiding place, but she didn't jump into any sort of training routine. She just knelt there on the floor, looking down at the sword in her hands. She still didn't understand the transformation it had undergone that day, but she was sure that _that_ secret held the answers to all of _these_ questions.

"This is it?"

Tenten whirled around at the sound of the voice. Standing in the doorway was another stranger. This time, the girl was older, and her face held none of the innocence Rhia's had. Her blonde hair was pulled back into four, tight pigtails, and she was surveying the scene with a coldness that Tenten usually associated with experienced killers. Finally, she spotted the headband around her neck, the slashed out symbol of Sunagakure. A rogue Sand ninja, here? There seemed to be no end to the insanity that had swallowed Tenten's life.

The weapons master straightened up. "What is your business here?" She was in no mood for a fight, but her duty as a Leaf shinobi came first.

The older girl seemed to really see her for the first time, taking in her bloodstained appearance. Her expression contorted with rage. _Uh-oh…_

"Was it you, then?" The blonde whipped out a large fan she'd been carrying in her sash. "Was she coming to see you? Did she get herself killed trying to warn_ you_?"

Tenten couldn't speak, her eyes drawn to the fan. She was struck with the same reverence she'd felt at the sight of Rhia's sword, when her mere toy had morphed into something much greater. This feeling… She wished she knew what it was. But there was one thing she did know. All three weapons, despite their vastly different appearances, were the same.

It took a moment for the girl's words to register in her mind, to be strung together in sentences that held actual meaning. They turned her own thoughts into a jumbled mess. "Do you… Are you talking about Rhia?"

The sound that came out of the girl's throat was half-grunt, half exclamation of pure anger. Quicker than Tenten could take a breath, the blonde girl had swung her fan out in a wide arc. She could now see three purple circles adorning the weapon, but she couldn't take in much more before she was struck by a wall of air. Tenten flew across the room where she smacked against the far wall. She slid down, dazed, thinking that it was a very ironic way to have the wind knocked out of her.

By some merciful force of nature, Tenten had managed to hold on to the toy sword. Good thing, too. The crazy ex-Sand girl was charging across the floor of the dojo, ready to bring her now-closed fan down on Tenten's head.

The weapons specialist brought up her sword as he only means of protection, knowing it would do a pitiful amount of good. But just as the two were about to connect, Tenten felt a thrill run down her spine, a weightlessness in the pit of her stomach. With a bright flash of light, the toy sword in her hand transformed again, and the odd, silver weapon was strong enough to hold her attacker at bay.

Above her, she could see the older girl's eyes go wide before the same recognition that had dawned in Rhia's eyes dawned in hers. Just as suddenly as the fight had started, the pressure above her eased. The Sand girl jumped back and allowed Tenten to get to her feet as well.

"What is your problem?" For some reason, she couldn't make her voice sound as angry as it should have, considering she'd just been attacked. Perhaps it was the familiarity of the situation. She was positive the standoffish girl before her could give her the explanation she'd been seeking. In fact, the blonde didn't look like she was able to tear her eyes away from the blade in Tenten's hand.

"_Fuck_!" she exclaimed at last. The look in her eyes was one of both reverence and impending doom. "_That's_ why she was coming back to see you? She didn't tell me you were an Engineer!"

"A what?" said Tenten, startled by the girl's vehement reaction. She held up the weapon in her hand for emphasis. "Please, what is everyone getting so freaked out about? What _is_ this exactly?"

The girl's expression didn't soften any when she realized just how clueless Tenten was. In fact, Tenten could see her shutting down, backtracking. "I shouldn't be here. I have to go."

"Wait!" Tenten begged as the answer to all of her questions turned to walk out the door. "_Please_, just tell me what's going on! Don't you at least owe Rhia that much?"

It was a low blow, she knew, but it made the girl falter. For a minute, Tenten thought she'd better get ready to defend herself again, but when the girl turned back, there was a look of resignation in her eyes.

"Fine. Come back later tonight, and make sure you're alone. I'll tell you what I can."

"Do I at least get a name?" she pressed.

"Temari." And that was it. A second later, Temari was out the door and out of sight. Gone.

**...**

That night's nightmare went just as all the others had.

The first thing Sasuke was aware of was the all-consuming, unending darkness. Next was the sensation of falling, sinking into the abyss. It was a very hopeless feeling, disorienting.

But… just as things had progressed all the other nights, just when he was about ready to give up, a sharp pain in his chest brought him back. With the force of an explosion, a blinding light suddenly took over his surroundings. He was sure where it had come from, (himself?) but it now penetrated everything. It felt like he was holding something in his dominant hand, but just as the feeling solidified, just as he looked down to confirm, he woke up.

Sasuke lay in bed, breathing heavily, sweat plastering his bangs to his forehead. He wasn't sure what was causing this reaction every night. The dreams had long ago stopped being panic-inducing, yet his heart was racing.

For now, he focused on his breathing. He could contemplate the dream later.

Inhale… Exhale. One breath at a time. Focus on the stillness of the house, the breathing of his parents. Except… Well, there was a complication. It was a little difficult to be lulled back to unconsciousness by his parents' steady breathing when his parents weren't peacefully asleep in their own room as he'd expected.

His focus sharpened almost immediately, scouting out the rest of his house. His father had returned… and the two were awake and deep in discussion. He couldn't quite make out the words… He would have to get closer.

Silently, Sasuke slipped out of bed and down the hall. He stopped and crouched down when he could just understand what they were saying, still at a safe distance to retreat.

"…daughter of an Iwagakure feudal lord."

"What in the world was she doing _here_?"

With a start, Sasuke realized they were discussing the dead girl his team had found that day.

"Impossible to say," his father answered grimly. "And the body's been returned to her family. But that's the least of our worries. To find one so close… _in_ the village… it's unsettling. It's put the others on edge."

"Fugaku… You don't think… The girl's killer… It couldn't have been…"

"Itachi? No, I doubt it. The wounds weren't clean enough; it wasn't his style."

Sasuke had tensed involuntarily at the sound of his brother's name. It had been so long since he'd heard it. Itachi was a forbidden subject in this house.

"He won't slip up," Fugaku continued. "Not after so long… That boy's as good as gone."

"Yes…"

There was a stiffness in the silence that erupted between them. That 'boy' would be almost eighteen now. Sasuke quickly pushed the thought away. He refused to dwell on his brother.

"We should have addressed it with him," Mikoto said suddenly. "We could have done something."

"Done _what_?" Fugaku retorted. "Said what? You think anything would have been different if we'd been the ones to tell him that his very existence was something to be punished for?"

"Maybe," his mother said firmly, sticking to her words.

"Itachi trusted Shisui," his father protested. "If he had to find out, you couldn't find a better candidate to bear the message."

"And you think what happened to Shisui was the best possible scenario?" she challenged. Sasuke was holding his breath. His mother wasn't a pushover. She may have given up the shinobi lifestyle when she had children, but she'd been an excellent ninja. Still… she was usually pretty laid-back. He'd never heard his parents argue before.

"I never said that, but… Shisui was dancing on thin ice and he knew it. That's what happens when you play with fire…"

"When you play with Keyblades, you mean."

There was another silence as Sasuke struggled to comprehend the direction this conversation had taken. 'Keyblades'… It wasn't a term he was familiar with.

The silence stretched on for so long Sasuke was certain his parents were done for the night. He was just about to creep back to bed when his mother spoke again. And her words managed to shock him into stillness yet again.

"And what about Sasuke?"

His father made a sound that suggested she'd caught him off guard as well. His tone was wary, but it didn't quite match up to his words. "What about him?"

"I know you can see the signs. Are we going to make the same mistake twice?"

"…Sasuke… doesn't need to know," Fugaku decided slowly. "He isn't nearly as deep into this as Itachi was."

"But one day, he will be," Mikoto countered. Suddenly, her voice wasn't as steady as it had been. "Please… just this once… put your family above the clan's honor. I can't lose both of them."

In his twelve years of life, Sasuke had undergone exercise after exercise, lesson after lesson, on suppressing his emotions, but they weren't doing him any good right now. His heart was racing too quickly. Any second now it would affect his breathing and his parents would realize they had an eavesdropper. He had to get out of there.

As quickly and quietly as was possible, Sasuke had retreated back down the hallway and out of the house through his bedroom window, into the cool darkness of the night.

He didn't understand what his parents had been discussing… but he planned to find out.

**Review please!**

**I don't own Naruto or Kingdom Hearts.**


	5. Answers at Last

**My college schedule is slowly ripping out my soul and leaving something else in its place… My professors swear it's knowledge, but I'm not so sure… Anyway, here's chapter four!**

**There's a lot of dialogue in this one, but it should finally explain some things (though not all) about this world I've created for this story. **

**Chapter Four: Answers at Last**

The cool air was doing little to clear his mind. Sasuke leapt from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the streets. Even at this hour they could be counted on to be filled with people.

He was looking for a place to think. Whenever he'd needed to blow off steam in the past, he would train, but he knew that wouldn't bring him any peace tonight. Training obsessively may have been beneficial in the long run, but he couldn't deny that it was just another way to run away from his problems. It was about time he sat down and thought things through.

His house had become a somber place when Itachi disappeared. It wasn't just the Uchiha heir and prodigy who had left them. Itachi had taken the clan's pride with him.

"_Shisui drowned… body destroyed… Itachi, we're certain… Gone." _

Sasuke grit his teeth and pushed his body to move faster, cover more distance, as the words of his father's officers drifted back to him. He remembered the darkness that had infiltrated his mother's mood as the days passed and Itachi didn't reappear, how his father was left out of the investigation for being too close to the 'situation', despite being the chief of the police force. But mostly he remembered the day they'd gotten the news of Shisui's death, how the expressions on both of his parents' faces had smoothed out to the blank looks of hardened, weathered shinobi.

He came to an abrupt stop atop a tree branch. He'd finally left the noise and light behind. With a slow exhale, Sasuke closed his eyes.

He'd only been eight when Itachi had deserted the village. With a five-year age gap and Itachi's prodigal nature between them, Sasuke hadn't known his brother very well. Itachi had always been busy and distant, but that hadn't stopped the younger Uchiha from worshipping the ground he walked on. He hadn't been the only one, either. His father had never had time for anything but Itachi's progress. The entire clan revered him. Even his mother, who'd done her best not to play favorites, had to admit—her older son was special.

After Itachi's betrayal, the entire clan had passed the aftermath in a daze. They were like survivors of some terrible accident, shell-shocked, staggering around unable to believe it had happened.

The best answer anyone had been able to come up with was that maybe the pressure had gotten to him and he'd snapped. He was Anbu by the time his peers were just graduating from the Academy. Maybe it had been too much for someone so young. Even if that someone was Itachi Uchiha, the greatest genius to ever come out of Konohagakure.

It had been such a hopeful diagnosis. Perhaps Shisui had just been the unfortunate victim of the village's crimes. The Uchiha, his parents especially, had been certain that Itachi would return once he came to his senses. There had been talk of various psych evals and who would oversee them. But the days passed. Then the weeks. Then the months. Itachi did not come back.

'Disappointed' didn't even begin to describe his reaction. He wasn't supposed to be there that day… But Sasuke had seen Shisui's body, face down in the river. The younger boy had seen the way he'd been torn open when they'd flipped him over. His stomach had knotted up at the sight, and his mother had quickly turned him away.

'Heartbroken' might be in the right ball park. At first, he'd refused to believe Itachi had done it. His brother had been his role model. And Shisui had been Itachi's best friend as well as their cousin. How _could_ he have done such a thing? No matter his state of mind?

He wanted so badly to hate his brother, even if the demands placed upon him had been unreasonable. With one action, he'd destroyed their family. The respect the other villagers had for the Uchiha was nearly completely diminished. Their father refused to discuss the fallen prodigy, could barely look at the one son he had left.

Sasuke _wanted_ to hate him. He wasn't sure why he didn't. He certainly had enough fuel. But whenever he thought of his brother, alone somewhere, all he felt was a near-unbearable pain in his chest. Maybe his brother had never recovered from his psychotic break. Maybe he was still trapped in his own mind. Maybe he wasn't even alive anymore. The thought made him shiver.

"Cold for this time of year, isn't it?"

He jumped at the sound of his teacher's voice, whipping around to see that the man had snuck up on him. Kakashi was seated on a higher branch, watching him over the top of his book.

"Were you following me?" he queried suspiciously.

"I may have decided to see what the rush was about when I saw you hurrying through the village," Kakashi admitted casually, flipping to the next page. "I have to say, the conclusion was rather boring."

Sasuke was silent.

"It's late," his teacher prodded, waiting for him to open up.

"Do we have a mission tomorrow?" Sasuke asked instead.

"Is there any reason we wouldn't?"

Sasuke didn't answer, knowing it was a rhetorical question. Team Seven had spent quite a lot of time together in the few months since they'd been united, and he felt he had a better understanding of his two team mates than he ever had during their Academy years. But their teacher was still a bit of a mystery to him. From the very beginning, he'd noticed that the man paid him a little more attention than the others.

This only made sense. There was a difference in being humble and just avoiding the question. Sasuke knew he had more natural talent and skill than either Naruto or Sakura. It wasn't bragging. It was just a matter of fact. But he was beginning to think Kakashi was watching him for reasons other than simply assessing his potential and deciding how best to train him. Kakashi had begun to watch him like he was expecting something.

"That girl in the forest," he said suddenly. "Do you know who did it?"

Kakashi was silent for a moment. "No. We may never know for sure _who_ it was. No obvious calling cards were left with the body."

"But… You don't think…" He couldn't finish the sentence. It wasn't that he was averse to trusting his team… but Sasuke didn't make a habit of opening up to people.

"Your brother?" Kakashi interpreted correctly. If he noticed the way his student flinched, he ignored it. "No. It wasn't his style."

Nearly the exact same words his father had used. Sasuke nodded silently.

"Listen," Kakashi said, suddenly serious and focused. "I understand why something like what happened in the woods today would remind you of him. But you can't let Itachi's past determine your future."

Sasuke grit his teeth, his jaw tensing. This was another habit of his teacher. It was rare, but occasionally, Kakashi would try to relate. And he kind of hated him for it.

_Oh, really? _he wanted to mock. _You understand? You understand what it's like to have someone you love more than the world itself turn into a deranged psychopath overnight?_

Instead, he turned away while Kakashi looked on sympathetically.

"It's late," his sensei repeated at last. "You should get home before you're missed."

Sasuke heard what wasn't said: _You wouldn't want your parents to have to deal with a second son's disappearance. _

Obediently, he rose to his feet. He didn't even complain when his teacher went to the trouble of escorting him home, though he did feel a stab of irritation flare up.

His father was waiting for them at the Uchiha Compound's gate. Sasuke ducked his head with dread but didn't falter otherwise. Fugaku's gaze was unwavering but difficult to read.

"What are you doing out and about at this hour?" He'd perfected the hard tone of an interrogator.

Kakashi chuckled casually, scratching the back of his head. "Right… Sorry about that. My fault. I didn't get a chance to review the day with my team, so I figured I'd pay them each a visit. Sasuke and I took a walk. I didn't mean to worry you."

It was so obviously a lie. Sasuke would have rolled his eyes had they been speaking to anyone else. But Fugaku let it go.

"That's fine," he said after a moment. Then he turned to his son. "You better get home. Tell your mother I'll be there shortly."

Clearly dismissed, Sasuke walked past him, deeper into the compound. Behind him, his father and his sensei commenced what sounded like small talk until he was out of earshot.

Personally, Sasuke thought the man was a little flaky, but his father held great respect for Kakashi Hatake. Once upon a time, he'd been Itachi's Anbu captain. Now he was responsible for the younger son's career.

Sasuke had always wondered whether his placement under this particular jonin instructor had been coincidental or not. Was Kakashi hoping to somehow redeem himself through mentoring Sasuke? Did the man feel guilty for not seeing the turn Itachi's mind was taking until it was too late?

"Sasuke!" his mother exclaimed when he walked in. "Where have you been?"

"With Kakashi," he answered shortly.

She raised an eyebrow. "This late?"

"Yeah… Dad said he'll be back soon." Avoiding her eyes, he pushed past his mother too.

He hated taking his frustration out on his parents. He knew the past few years had given them a lot to deal with as well. But there was nothing he handled worse than being kept in the dark.

**…**

Tenten had never considered herself impatient, but she seemed to be learning a lot of new things about herself these days. At any rate, dinner with her parents was agony. She was distracted, and it showed.

Not for the first time she felt grateful her parents were civilians. She didn't tell them about Rhia and what had happened to the girl, and they had no way of knowing. They didn't question her quiet behavior, mistaking it for normal teenage moodiness, and it was all too easy for her to slip out of the house later that night with them left behind none the wiser.

Temari was nowhere to be seen when Tenten walked into the dojo, but this didn't surprise her. Nor was she shocked to hear the wind slam the door shut behind her, though a little thrill did run up her back.

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust, but the moon shining in through the skylights overhead lit up the room pretty well. She may not have had Neji's abilities, but her eyesight was fine by the time Temari floated down from the rafters on her gigantic fan.

"Was this really necessary?" Tenten asked, trying to sound casual, teasing, as the older girl got to her feet. She gestured around them. "Setting the atmosphere?"

Temari just stared at her for a moment before chuckling bitterly. All of her previous aggression was gone. "I wish I could remember being that naïve."

Tenten wasn't sure how to respond to this. "How… How long have you been…?"

"Rogue?" Temari finished. She sounded rueful, sad even. Here, in the shadow of the dojo, this fearsome kunoichi looked more human than she ever had in daylight. At last she answered, "I don't see that it matters."

Tenten just looked at her, skeptical.

"You… don't live in the world that you think you do. Tenten, there are exceptions to everything. You've been taught to believe that any ninja who abandons their village is garbage, I get that. But sometimes… When the village turns against _you_, it… It can't be helped." Now Temari was the one struggling for words.

"I don't understand," Tenten replied, puzzled.

Temari fingered her slashed-out headband and murmured, "I don't know why I even keep this thing… Nostalgia, maybe?" She shook her head. "Anyway, against my better judgment, I promised you an explanation."

"Is it really that bad?" Temari's evasiveness wasn't helping her nerves any. Really, what was the big secret?

The blonde had already slipped the fan back into her sash. Now she held out her hand, and Tenten really shouldn't have been surprised to see the fan reappear in it.

"This is called a Keyblade. Mine has been… specialized. The one you've been summoning is a Keyblade in its most basic form."

Tenten scrutinized the weapon. It wasn't the thing's appearance so much as its aura that reminded her of the weapon she'd been holding earlier that day.

"Okay… And what was it you called me today? An… 'Engineer'?"

Temari nodded. "There are two types of Keyblade wielders. One had their power passed down to them. We call them Borrowers. This kind is much more common these days. We're kind of getting to be outnumbered."

"Okay… Which kind are you?"

"I'm a second-generation Keyblade wielder." Her expression had saddened. "My mother was an Engineer. This Keyblade belonged to her originally. When she… suspected she would die soon, she passed it down to me."

"Oh…" Tenten had never known how to react to the death of someone's loved one, which she was no stranger to, being a, and surrounded by, shinobi. But comfort was not the goal of this meeting. She was here to gather information, and who knew how much longer this girl would feel obliged to stick around? "So, was the fan your creation?"

Temari seemed to straighten up mentally, shaking off any melancholy feelings. "No. When the ability is passed on, it's permanent. There's no way to get it back if you're the one who's given it away, and the person you bequeathed it to is stuck with your weapon, exactly the way you left it. A Borrower doesn't have the power to reform their weapon to suit their own abilities like an Engineer does."

"Is that the only difference?"

"No. Borrowers, like me, are created, Engineers, like you and Rhia, are born. Engineers also have the ability to summon the weapon from within themselves. Out of thin air, practically. Or you can temporarily transform any other object into a Keyblade by allowing your own energy to flow through it, like you did this afternoon. And once you're done with it, the object will transform back, or the Keyblade will just disappear until you need it again. A Borrower's weapon has become a permanent physical fixture. An Engineer's is a collection of energy. I can summon my Keyblade to me, should it ever be lost, but I can't just make it disappear.

"Right now, you've only just grasped the first steps, creating a Keyblade through some other weapon. One day, you'll be able to summon your own, perfectly crafted to enhance your strengths and cover your weaknesses. It'll be an extension of yourself. Like a second set of fingerprints."

"Like Rhia's sword…"

"Yeah…" Temari muttered. "Rhia was exceptional for her age, but she was hardly a master. You haven't even begun to see the true extent of a Keyblade wielder's power yet."

Tenten mulled all this over for a minute, silent. "Okay, I think I get it. The general concept, at least. But there are still a lot of holes… I specialize in weaponry. I've spent hours researching bizarre tools that no one uses anymore, swords and knives and spears specific to and only used in certain regions of the world… Why haven't I ever heard about any of this before?"

She sighed. "Sometimes it seems to be the only thing the whole world can agree upon. It's been kept pretty quiet everywhere I've been."

Temari had paused, pondering how she wanted to phrase what came next.

"Once upon a time," she began at last. "And by that I mean, generations and generations ago… Oh, forget all this fancy preamble bullshit," she decided, growing impatient with her own lack of eloquence.

"Back when there weren't any ninja, there were Keyblade masters. They weren't nearly as integrated into society as modern shinobi are now, but they still served, more or less, the same purpose. They were their people's protectors."

"Okay." Tenten had raised an eyebrow, wondering how this would affect all the history she'd learned in school. They never really went into a time _before_ there were shinobi. "So what happened?"

"The civilians started learning to use weapons and chakra and how to protect themselves. They created their own hierarchies and governments, and the Keyblade wielders were suddenly… expendable."

"So what to do with them?" Tenten supplied.

"Exactly. From what I've heard, the Keyblade wielders kind of kept to themselves, separate from the original, primitive communities. But their position as defenders still gave them power. Suddenly, they were stripped of all that and cast out. …I'm not saying the Keyblade masters didn't abuse the influence they had from time to time, but… Things just got out of hand. It was either disappear or start a war."

"So they disappeared?" Tenten figured a _war_ would have been a little difficult to skip over or explain away in class.

Temari shrugged. "Sure. For a while, anyway. Like I said, they'd always been a little isolated. It wasn't too difficult to stay out of sight. But it didn't last very long. 'You give an inch, they'll take a mile,' right?

"Sometimes, the ability to wield a Keyblade comes with additional… powers. No one really knows why."

"This whole thing," Tenten spoke up suddenly. "Is it like some sort of Kekkei Genkai? Do my parents…?"

"Know?" Temari interpreted. "Probably not. No one really knows why some people are born with this ability. No one's ever been able to_ prove_ that it's passed down through certain families, though that's one theory. There are old legends and folk tales… Some think we're demons. Some think we'll save the world from its inevitable doom one day… All the old stories seem to think we're destined for these roles. Chosen by fate or some forgotten deity. People have only started trying to link it to genetics recently."

Tenten had to repress a smile at the mention of fate. How would Neji react to all this, she wondered? The thought brought a frown to her face. "Temari, just how secret is this whole thing? Can I tell my team mates?"

"No!" The older girl looked aghast at the idea. "You can't tell _anyone_. I didn't even want to tell _you_, but Rhia set that ball rolling. After our meeting earlier, I figured you would do something stupid and get yourself caught if I didn't warn you. You're in danger, Tenten.

"All those years ago, people got paranoid. Humans seem to fear anything they don't understand. First, it became okay to execute people caught with Keyblades… You know, anyone who just revealed themselves accidentally. Then they started actively hunting us. These days, they sometimes choose to capture us for interrogation, but we don't know too much about the mechanics of it all ourselves. And even if we do know more than they do, no one's just gonna give our secrets up. We usually end up dead and dissected whether we comply or not."

Tenten swallowed uneasily. It felt like the walls of the dojo were slowly inching closer as the memory of Rhia's body post-mortem came back to her. She just wanted to take a minute to breathe and process all this information, but Temari was on a roll.

"And it's never been as cut-and-dry simple as they all want you to believe!" she exploded angrily. "What happens to the shinobi parents who give birth to an Engineer? It's their duty to kill that child and report it, but even if they do, suddenly they're under suspicion, because everyone's so damn desperate to figure out what causes people like us!"

"And this…" Tenten's throat was dry. She was having difficulty getting the words out. "Shinobi still abide by these rules _today_?"

"Yeah. It's just kept a little quieter, entrusted to the elite."

"But I'm…" She couldn't finish the sentence.

Temari's expression softened. She fingered her own headband again. "I know… It's hard. I can't tell you what to do next; that's your decision. But you're not safe here Tenten. Not in your line of work. You can't trust your comrades anymore. If the knowledge of what you are gets out, they could turn on you and they'd just be following orders."

Tenten tried to imagine Neji and Lee coming at her with the intent to kill. She tried to picture Gai sensei ever giving that order. She quickly blocked that flow of thought.

"Don't get me wrong," Temari said at the look on her face. "It is a possibility. There have been people who've lived fairly normal lives, kept it secret. Sometimes the best way to hide is to be obvious. Being ingrained in the community can cast doubt if someone begins to suspect you, but I wouldn't suggest it."

"What _would_ you suggest? I abandon the country I pledged my loyalty to and become a missing nin?" Her words had a little more bite to them than she'd intended. She knew Temari was just being logical, but she couldn't even fathom the idea.

Temari looked exasperated. "You think it was easy for _me_? I had friends and a family I was leaving behind, too. Look, I'm just…" She was struggling for words again, and Tenten wasn't surprised. This clearly wasn't a girl who was used to baring her soul.

"Usually, I'm all for letting people take care of themselves. But Rhia wasn't like that. She would have wanted me to look out for you. And I know I wouldn't be here today if Riku hadn't looked out for me…"

"Riku?"

"Yeah. He's a friend." She slipped her fan back into her sash. "He'll be wondering where I am, actually."

Tenten understood the dismissal of their conversation. "Is that it, then? You disappear off into the night now, never to be seen again?" _Leaving me with all these new problems to think about?_

Temari smirked at the overdramatic phrasing, and Tenten was sure she understood what wasn't being said. "Not just yet. We'll stick around for a while, and I'll check in again. After all, you still have a decision to make."

**Review please! I own neither Naruto nor Kingdom Hearts.**

**Wait a minute… Could it be… Was that… A Kingdom Hearts character finally being mentioned?! About damn time… Hopefully, some KH characters will make an actual appearance soon, but my plans for what exactly happens in the next chapter and what will be held off for the next one are still a little rough.**

**This chapter had a lot of dialogue in it… But there were finally some explanations. I can only hope they made sense. **


End file.
